Apparatus for fiber collection



June 9, 1953 H. STEELE APPARATUS FOR FIBER COLLECTION Filed July 6. 1948.l --l 5 254 I I L m U M Gm vwww o .mw m Y Patented June 9, 1953APPARATUS FOR FIBER COLLECTION Harmon Steele, Somerville, N. J.,assignor to Johns-Manville Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporationof New York Application July 6, 1948, Serial No. 37,271 1 Claim. (01.19-156) The present invention relates to the produc tion of blankets orfelts of artificial fibers and is particularly concerned with theproduction of such articles from mineral wool fibers. The term mineralwool fibers is employed in a sense to include fibers formed from rock,slag, glass, mixtures thereof and like fusible raw materials, and theinvention will be specifically described in such connection. However, itwill be appreciated that the invention may be employed with fibers ofother materials.

Heretofore mineral wool has been made in a number of ways including theconventional method of disintegrating a molten raw material into amultiplicity of fibers by the action of a high pressure steam jet,conveying the fibers into a collection chamber in the gaseous blast setup by the steam jets, and collecting the fiberson a conveyor forming thefloor of the chamber. More recently it has been proposed to fiberize themolten material by spinners or rotors rotated at high speed. In thiscase the fibers are discharged tangentially of the rotors and theircollection in the form of a felted layer has presented serious problems.

In the co-pending application of John E. Coleman, S. N. 37,268, filed ofeven date herewith, now Patent No. 2,561,843, there is described andclaimed a method and apparatus for solving these problems. In theoperations disclosed a collection chamber is used, the chamber having anentrance opening opposite the fiberizing rotors. Air-streams are set upsubstantially surrounding the fiberizing means to confine the fibers andcarry them through the entrance opening into the collection chamber.

It has been found that, due particularly to the character of theairstreams, difficulty is encountered in securing a substantiallyuniform distribution of the fibers on the floor of the collectionchamber, as is desired for certain products. The principal object of theinvention is the provision of a method and apparatus for securing suchuniform fiber distribution. More particularly an object of the instantinvention is the provision of an apparatus and method for interceptingthe airstreams to set up a condition of air turbulence within thechamber from which the fibers are collected.

The invention is employed in conjunction with the apparatus previouslybriefly described including a collection chamber having an entranceopening through which the fibers are carried directly as they are formedby airstreams which substantially surround the fiberizer and direct thefibers through the entranc opening. The airstreams may be induced bywithdrawing air through the floor of the collection chamber. Inaccordance with the instant invention one or more auxiliary gaseousblasts or drafts are directed into the collection chamber to cause theturbulent condition previously mentioned and from which the fiberssettle to the collection chamber floor with substantially uniformdistribution.

My invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvantages thereof will become apparent when reference is made to themore detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the inventionwhich is to follow and to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view taken through an apparatusembodying the instant invention:

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown an apparatus includingfiberizing means indicated generally at It and which may include ameltin furnace it of any suitable type, such as the cupola illustrated.The furnace includes a discharge trough it, through which a stream ofmolten slag, rock, glass or other fiber forming material is drawn fromthe furnace and discharged in position to be contacted by a rotorfiberizing device indicated generally at I6. The latter is of the typeincluding, preferably, a plurality of rotors supported to have theirperipheral edges in position to be contacted by the molten materialdischarged from the trough [4. When the rotors are rotated at high speedfibers are drawn from the material carried thereby under the influenceof the centrifugal forces set up. The particular construction of thefiberizing device may vary but typical constructions are shown in patentto Powell, #2,428,8l0, issued October 14, 1947, and in the co-pendingapplication of Edward R. Powell, Serial No. 742,064, filed April 1'7,1947, now abandoned.

A fiber collection chamber I3 is located adjacent and forwardly of thefiberizing device I 6. Collection chamber l8, which is relativelyairtight except for the openings to be described, includes a bottom wallcomprising a conveyor 2!!- supported on members 22 and adapted to bedriven in the direction indicated by the arrow (see Fig. 1) by anysuitable means (not shown). "A suction box 24 is located intermediatethe upper and lower reaches of the conveyor with its open side adjacentthe upper reach. The suction box may be connected to any suitableairexhausting device (not shown) as by means of duct 26.

The forward wall of the collection chamber is provided with an exit port30 through which the accumulated fibersiare delivered by the conveyor toany suitable re-handling apparatus. Port 30 is preferably defined inpart by a roll 32 adapted to compress and consolidate the fibrous massto some extent.

The rear Wall of the collection chamber (see particularly Fig. 2)includes amentrrance open.

ing 33 defined by a top edge -34; side-edges and threshold 38.

Surrounding entrance 33 and thefiberizi-ng device is a housing indicatedgenerally at 40, the housing including a rear wall 42 lying behind-thefiberizing device it and extending upwardly and forward-1y to jointherear: wall of: the collection chamber, and downwardly and rearwardlyto a point'remote' from the fiberizer'; Alsoextending downwardly andpreferably rearwardly: from threshold 38. is a front wall l. Walls and Mtorn-r pocket in whichsuita-ble iii-earls may be located; to removevunfiherized. particlesandshot collected in the pocket. The. sides ofthehousing are enclosed by, sidewalls; of any suitable type.

R ear walled is provided with openings to re ceive-theshaft and otherelements of fiberizing device It; and. also to receive trough I itopermit these elements: to extend into the interior of the housing. Therear wall is also provided with air inlet: openings adapted ta co-actwith suction: device 24 toiset' up'airstreams surrounding thefiberirrlng device, and of. a character to control the movement of thefibers formed by the fiberizing device-andptocarry them into thecollecting chamber. These air inlets: include an upper inlet. ftcomprising a relatively narrow slit extending substantially horizontallyabove' the fi-berizing. device. and sideinletscomprising slots 5:2-v onopposite. sides. of the fiberizing device and a lower air inlet. remotefrom therotors and preferably. adjacent the lower edge ofrpocket .45.Air inlet. lit'comprises: a horizontally extending slit ofpreferably-greater width than the other inlets to permit the entry of agreater quantity oi air. It will-beappreciated that,- although. corntinuous slits are." shown, thisis notv essential-and that any or all: ofthe.- inlets may, be made: ofaa series of slits oi: openings of othershapes, if desired.

The. above described apparatusis illustrated and claimed in the said.co-pending, application of John. E. Coleman. In operation the fibersformed by rotation of the rotors. are. diverted from their normal pathssubstantially tangentially to the rotors and are directed into thecollection chamber. This re-directi'on of the fibers is caused. byair-streams entering the air inlets 5t, 52. and. 54 andflowlng pasttherotor means into the collection cha1nber,,the-airstreams being set upby withdrawal of'air from the. chamber into suction box24; The aircurrents, in effect, create aeriforlnwalls which divert theifib'ers fromtheir. original paths... As shown in Fla. 1, upon entry, intothe.eollectionchamber the fiber-laden ail-streams may be. said. to flow.inawell-defined arcuate path forwardly and upwardlyandth'en downwardlyin the chamber.

In accordance .withthe instant invention. means are providedtob'reaklup. thezrelativelymlearly defined airstreams and create aturbulent condition within the collection chamber. The means for thispurpose may take difierent forms but, in a preferred embodiment,includes a series of nozzles 56 located in the rear wall of thecollection chamber and preferably substantially below threshold 38.Where a plurality of nozzles are used asshown these are distributedacross the width of the collection chamber (see Fig. 2). The nozzles areconnected to suitable supplies of agaseous medium under pressure,whereby relatively high initial velocities of the gaseous jets areobtained. For example, these auxiliary blasts may be saturated steam orcompressed air. The nozzles. arepreferahly pointed forwardly andupwardly to direct the jets, as illustrated particularly in Fig. 1.

The jets of air streaming from the nozzles 58 are so. positioned anddirected that the gaseous blast they emit travels in the same general direction. of movementv as that taken initially by the fiber-marryingairstreams upon their introduction intothe collection chamber, and theymay be said to intercept said fiber-laden airstreams at aregion of theirestablished arcuate path atwhichthe flow has taken a downward course; Itwill be noted that this occurs at a region removed. from the entrance.opening by a substantial angle of arc and that the interception ofthearcuate path by the auxiliary blast occurs on a chord of the are.

In carrying out the fiber. collecting operations with the abovedescribedapparatus, the fiber carr ing air-streams moving in awell-defined arouate path are broken up by the auxiliary blasts. duringtheir travel through the. collection chamber and a turbulent conditionis achieved substantially. throughout the collection chamber. As thegaseous medium is withdrawn through the conveyor and into suction box26, the. fibers are deposited. relatively uniforml'y to obtain a felt orblanket of approximately. uniform thickness transversely of' thecollection chamber, as illustrated particularly in Fig. 3'. Thefelted'layer is carried from the chamber on the. continuously movingconveyor and may thereafter be subjected to any suitable operationsrequired to convert it into a final product.

It iwillbe appreciatedi'that, where a modified product is desired, atreatingmaterial may be sprayed into the suspension of fibers at anysuitable. point and, due to the turbulent air conditions, will becomesubstantially uniformly distributed among the fibers and be depositedinsuch distributed relationship in the felted layer.

Having thus described my invention in rather full detail, it will. beunderstood. that these details need; not be. strictly adhered to butthat various. changes and. modifications may suggest-themselvesto oneskilled in. the art, all falling within the scope of the. inventionasdefinedby thesubjoined'clai'rn.

What. I. claim is:

In a fiber-collection apparatus including a collection chamber having anentrance opening in awall thereof and meansior introducing airsti'eamscarryingv fibers. into said collection chamber through saidv opening,and upwardly and forwardly in said chamber to establish a how thereinawell-defined arcuate path, the improvement comprising means. forintercepting and disrupting said" airstream andior causing a conditionof turbulence within said chamber, said lastnamed' means including, aplurality of nozzles positioned in the Wall. of the chamber having theentrance opening and located below said References Cited in the file ofthis patent opening and distributed across the Width of said UNITEDSTATES PATENTS collection chamber, said plurality of nozzles beingpointed forwardly and upwardly to direct a Number Name Date gaseousblast in the same general direction of 5 299,111 Burns l 1334 movementas that taken initially by the fiber- 2 2 s s Sept. 9, 1941 carryingairstreams upon their introduction into 3 1 Page p l3, 1943 the chamber,but so as to intercept said air- 2,317,395 Dr i11 p 2 1943 streams at aregion of their established arcuate 2,319,666 131111 -S 13, 1943 path atwhich the flow has taken a downward 10 course, thereby disrupting saidWell-defined flow and creating turbulence Within the chamber, andachieving a relatively uniform distribution of the fibers settling inthe chamber, and means for supplying a gas under pressure to saidnozzles. 15

HARMON STEELE.

